Inside the Maclay Finals

I considered myself lucky Sunday morning (the morning of Maclay finals) when my trainer said I had to be at the barn at 5:30 am. This was a gift compared to the 1:30 am or even 3:30 am times I had arrived there these past few days. I brought my equitation horse Chagall to show here and my trainer Andre was nice enough to ride him for me that morning. In the class, I went 56th in the order and I was quite pleased with my round, except for one jump where I had a rail. That was a little disappointing because I felt that overall my round was quite good and this mistake would obviously count against me. I ended up being called back 18th going into the flat phase. After that, I was moved up to 11th place, which for me is a victory in itself because I struggle on the flat sometimes. I do not have the typical equitation body type so I have to work extra hard with my trainer on my position. Lucky for me, I have a very beautiful horse so he helps the overall picture.

We then had to wait 2 hours while the $50,000 Animal Planet Sport Horse Cup took place so it was a little nerve-wrecking waiting all that time for the second round. I was the 7th rider to return (there were 18 total and it came back in reverse order) and I felt that my second round may not have been as good as the first, but still pretty solid. The main problem with this round was that my horse really rubbed about 3 or 4 jumps so that took away from the overall smoothness. I think Chagall was just too tired! These horses do a lot at a show like this, or at any finals. I didn't end up getting a ribbon which I was a little disappointed about but I felt good about myself and my riding so I was pleased.

Earlier in the week, I had shown in the $40,000 Jr/AO Grand Prix on one of my jumpers Lavaro and I placed 3rd. The next day I also did another jumper class, the $15,000 Pro Team competition, on my horse Jerremy. The best 3 scores were counted and also the fastest times. Our team, consisting of me, Haylie Jayne, Sarah Segal, and Margie Engle (our professional), placed first because we had 3 clear rounds and really fast times. This weekend I won a lot of prize money, all of which I donate to Just World International. I am a junior representative for the organization.

Because of all of these events, I feel that I had a pretty great weekend. Of course when the Maclay was over, I shed a few tears because it is the end of a great junior career for me. The hardest part of aging out for me is that I love my equitation and hunter horses so much and it is almost an unbearable thought for me that I will have to part with them in the next couple weeks. Even still, I feel that I have accomplished so much over the years and I'm looking forward to hopefully many jumper successes in the years to come.

Photo Caption: Natalie Johnson in the Maclay. Copyright 2005 by Nancy Jaffer.